Moving On
by SneakerTime
Summary: Tony dies saving the team, and everyone falls apart after he's gone. They are all hurting on the inside, and the only person who can make that hurt go away is gone now. So Tony comes back to save his family, and to help them move on. AU and slightly supernatural because Tony is back after he's gone.


**Everyone might me a little OOC in this story, but it happens. If you don't like stuff like that, than you don't have to read. This is also a pretty deep story with a little humor thrown in here and there, so you gotta be in the mood for that type of story. I hope you like it and understand what I'm trying to say :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

**Moving On**

He was gone. _His son. _His son was gone_._ He had never gotten to tell him how much he loved him. How much he trusted and cared about him, and now he was gone. Gone forever. He had already lost Shannon and Kelly, he couldn't lose someone else, especially not like this.

Staring at the cold piece of granite, Leroy Jethro Gibbs couldn't stop the tears that ran down his face. Reaching forward he carefully head slapped the tombstone in front of him. The tombstone that read Anthony D. DiNozzo.

His son had died, saving the world no less. He had put himself in harm's way, like he hadn't done that before, but this time hadn't come out the other end. He had saved the lives of everyone on the team, especially Gibbs'.

Tony had always said he would die in a hail of bullets. Bullets, explosions, same difference. All that really mattered was now he was gone. And he left a type of hell of earth for five different people. And one of those people, was Gibbs. Except he couldn't take anymore. He couldn't do take anymore lose, or pain. He was done.

**~NCIS~**

"Gibbs, please say something! Anything!" Abby pleaded. Everyone had been falling apart since Tony's death, but it didn't help that Gibbs had been gone the entire time. And even when he was around he never said a word. It was like he shut down, and the rest of the team was slipping without him.

So the team (plus Ducky, Abby and Palmer) had decided it was time for an intervention. But all they had found was an ex-marine trying to drink himself into oblivion.

"Please Gibbs! Say _something!"_ Abby pleaded again, even though it sounded more like a demand.

"I…I just can't do this anymore." Gibbs said sadly as he went to take another large drink from the bourbon bottle in his hand.

Before anyone could move or even blink a hand rested on Gibbs' arm, pulling the bottle away from him.

"I wouldn't do that Boss. Lord knows no one else is going to finish this boat. Or know how to get it out of this basement." Tony said smiling at his former mentor.

"Tony?" Gibbs asked completely stunned. There was no way his former SFA was standing in front of him, when he had carried his body to its grave site a few days earlier.

"I'm really here Boss." Tony's said as if he could read Gibbs' thoughts.

"Hey." Was what Gibbs finally choked out as he grabbed the man in front of him, hugging him as hard as he could.

"Hey." Tony said quietly returning the hug just as tightly. "What are you thinking?" Tony asked sadly as he stared into the bright blue eyes of the man who he had come to look at as a father.

"I can't live through losing someone else that I care about." Gibbs said looking away ashamed of his actions.

"I didn't die just so you could sulk about it and try to drown you sorrows. And that goes to all of you." Tony said turning to look at the team.

"But…? How…?" Ducky stuttered.

"The _how_ doesn't matter, what does matter is _WHY_ I'm here." Tony said gesturing for everyone to follow him upstairs.

"Come on Boss, you have gotta have better coffee than this." Tony groaned as he started looking through all of the empty cupboards.

Turning to look at his team, he smiled at the looks on their faces. They were all shocked to see him. (Considering the fact that he was supposed to be dead.) He did miss them, but his time had come and gone, and he had accepted that. Now he just needed his family to accept that.

"You're still dead aren't you?" Abby asked sadly as tears started making paths down her cheeks.

"Yeah Abby." Tony answered quietly.

"Can you stay?" She asked even more quietly than Tony's answer.

"Not this time Abbs." Tony said smiling as he carefully wiped her tears off her face. "It's my time." He said smiling softly, giving her a big hug before pulling away completely.

"If it is your time, then why are you still here?!" Ziva spat angrily.

"Don't do that Zi." Tony said coming forward to stare into her eyes. "Don't push away from everyone else, and me, like that. You can trust them." Tony said into her ear quietly as he gave her a quick hug.

"The WHY, as to why I am here, is to help all of you move on." Tony said, still smiling as he walked into the all too familiar living room. "Boy we had some good times in here, didn't we Boss?" Tony asked as he flopped down on the couch.

"You're dead!" Tim yelled finally breaking the eerie calm. "We just buried you! You should be dead!" He continued yelling as tears started to form in his eyes.

"You think I don't know that McProbie-Wan Kenobi? I tried to eat a pizza and it just went right through me! Literally!" Tony said waving his arms around. "Alright all of you look at me." Tony said standing straight and tall. "Now listen, and listen well. I want every single one of you to…" Tony said stopping abruptly and looking around as if what he was about to say was top secret.

After a minute Gibbs growled at him trying to get him back on topic. "Sorry Boss, just pausing for dramatic effect." Tony said winking. "I want every single one of you to live your life. Keep moving forward, feel the breeze on your face, eat a whole pizza, stop and smell the roses. Finish the boat in your basement, tell stories until your voice goes hoarse, play computer games til your fingers fall off, use your ninja skills to save the world. Do whatever it is that you do best."

"How can you say that, how can you expect us to move on, just like that?" McGee asked shaking his head.

"Life begins and ends McGee, doesn't mean the world stops spinning." Tony said getting a sad look in his eyes. "You can't let this tear you apart. Now I know it hurts like hell, but it'll get better."

"What about all the things I didn't say, didn't do right? What about everything I screwed up?" Gibbs asked with real tears forming in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it Boss, there was a reason I called you the functional mute." Tony said smiling.

"I'm serious Tony. What about everything I didn't say to you? All the things I never told you." Gibbs said stepping forward. "How I never told you that I thought of you as a son, how much I really cared about you and respected you. What am I supposed to do now?"

"You keep living Jethro." Tony said with tears rolling down his cheeks. "You keep living for me, dad." He said quietly giving him Gibbs another hug.

"I am so proud of all of you." Tony said looking each one of them in the eyes. "There's nothing to hold against yourself. Nothing to regret, I don't have any regrets. There's no time for that type of thing where I'm at." Tony said smiling.

"You don't know what it's like to lose someone!" Abby yelled angrily stomping her foot as she continued crying.

"I don't know what it's like to lose someone? I don't know what it's like to lose someone?!" Tony yelled back. "I'm sorry, have you not looked at my life?! I have lost everything, more than once, and what about Kate?! Now you know that we all felt that."

"Tony, I didn't mean that…" Abby said trying to back track.

"No you did mean it like that. Abby you need to get your head out of your ass." Tony said seriously.

"Anthony!" Ducky scolded as Abby gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I'm serious. You need to stop thinking about just yourself, there are other people hurting. Not just you. You need to take a deep breath and look at others. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that helping others heal you help yourself heal." Tony said with a knowledge beyond his years.

"Don't you want to stay here with us? I thought we were family." Palmer asked quietly.

"Of course we're family, my little Autopsy Gremlin." Tony said smirking at the nickname he had given to the younger man. "You guys are the family I never had and I would never trade that for anything. And while I would like to stay, I can't. You guys aren't my only family." Tony said softly.

"What do you mean? I thought you were an only child." Ducky said a little off after everything that had happened that night.

"Yes I was, but I had another family before you guys. But I lost them, in a car accident. We were hit head on by a drunk driver. And while my family bled to death, the other driver just walked away." Tony said looking away in sadness and anger. "I lost everything when they left, which is why it was so hard for me to trust and be me again. But all that changed after I tackled a hard ass, functional mute of a marine back in Baltimore." Tony said smiling as he met the steely blue eyes of his former mentor.

"You see, he just had this way of getting to me. Saw right through all my defenses, looked at the guy behind the mask. I don't think I've ever been more thankful in my life." Tony said smiling. "Now come here, all of you." Tony said opening his arms wide to his family.

After a few minutes of a tight hug, the makeshift family all stood back and smiled at their friend. "I'm gonna miss you guys." Tony said softly.

"And we'll always remember and miss you." Palmer said firmly, with a bright smile on his face.

"You ready to go Daddy?" A little girl asked from behind Tony.

"Almost, sweet heart." Tony replied walking towards a little girl with curly blond hair, big hazel eyes and a smile that matched Tony's. Picking her up, he kissed her cheek softly before turning back to his team.

"You guys, this is my daughter Christina. Christina, this is your family. Uncles McGeek and Gremlin, aunts Zeevah and Abby, your crazy great grandpa Ducky, and your very special Grandpa LJ." Tony said smiling brightly at his family.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Christina said politely before getting out of her father's arms and going up to hug Gibbs. "Thank you for protecting my daddy." She whispered into his ear as she gave Gibbs a kiss on the cheek.

"Daddy come on! They're waiting for us." A whiny little boy said running up from behind Gibbs and grabbing Christina's hand.

"Ah, what's rule number one?" Tony asked picking up the little boy who had brown hair, big green eyes like Tony and a bright smile with little dimples.

"DiNozzo's are always fashionably late." The little boy stated proudly.

"You got my little man. Everyone this is my son Michael and my wife Wendy." Tony said nodding towards the woman who had just walked out from behind him.

She stood tall and proud with a small smile, big blue eyes and blond curly hair that framed her face. "You must be Tony's _real_ family, it's a pleasure to meet you." She said smiling brightly at all of them.

"It's nice to meet all of you as well." Gibbs said smiling at the picture before him. His son was surrounded by people who loved him, and he had a smile on his face that he hadn't seen in months. A happy, full smile that was one hundred percent genuine.

"Now I know you love to be, fashionably late, but you know how Kate gets when you make her wait." Wendy said giving Tony _the look._

"You mean _our_ Kate?" McGee asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Yep, _our_ Kate. She says hi, by the way." Tony said giving him a knowing look. "But they're right, we better get going. Now I'll be watchin out for you guys, but I better not see you around my parts of the woods for a long time to come. That means you, Gibbs."

"We'll see." Gibbs smiled as he stepped forward and gave Tony a tight hug. "I love you son." Gibbs whispered into Tony's ear.

"I love you too dad. You've done more for me than you could ever know." Tony said back.

"Goodbye Tony." Gibbs said, speaking for everyone.

"Goodbye you guys, remember what I said. And always remember that I love you." Tony said smiling as he and his family disappeared.

**~The Next day at NCIS~**

"Boss, what's that on your desk?" McGee asked walking into the bullpen.

"Don't know McGee, I don't have x-ray vision." Gibbs said as he picked up the wrapped gift on his desk. As he carefully pealed back the paper, a smile lit up his face. The gift was a framed photo of the whole team, Ducky, Palmer and Abby included. They were all laughing at some joke Tony had made and the funny look on his face. It was one of their happiest times. Turning the frame over, he silently read the message on the back: _Keep living for us dad. I love you –Tony _Finally taking off all of the paper, a smaller photo fell onto the desk. Picking it up, his smile widened and his eyes filled with tears. It was a picture of Tony with his wife and kids while they were at a picnic. They all seemed to be looking right at him with bright smiles on their faces.

"I love you to son." Gibbs said quietly looking out the window at the clear blue sky and shining sun.

**_Love and life is never something to take for granted._**


End file.
